Fashion Culture

“We want the fashion industry to understand as a South Sudan woman, I am not just another model who is pretty, I have a story, I have an identity, and this is what is happening,” says DJ and fashion model Mari Malek. South Sudan became the newest country in the world when it gained its independence from Sudan in 2011. Even after 30 years of civil war, the human rights situation in the northeastern African country continues to be dire: internal conflicts that are still forcing the population to flee, a literacy rate of just 27% and rampant gender inequality (only 33% of girls are in school) makes the situation in South Sudan a crisis.